What You Need to Know About the BlackBerry Playbook

Research In Motion (RIM) is best known for the BlackBerry smartphone but soon the company hopes to make headlines with the release of their first ever tablet: the BlackBerry Playbook.

The device was announced last September 27, 2010 and eager users have been waiting for its promised arrival in early 2011. Tablets have been all the rage lately so what edge has RIM equipped the PlayBook with to make it a contender in the competitive tablet market? Before exploring the announced features of the device, let's take a step backwards and trace the journey of the PlayBook from its conception.

It began with rumors of the BlackPad.

Rumors that RIM had a tablet in the works months prior to the PlayBook's announcement. It was initially dubbed as the "BlackPad" because of its resemblance to Apple's tablet, the iPad. Before it was announced, many were already waiting on the BlackPad eagerly, with some users predicting that the device will be business-centric as the company's smartphones were made to be.

BlackBerry PlayBook Features

The BlackBerry PlayBook is set to be released on April 19, 2011 with the device's official site boasting of the following features:

Professional Grade Performance (1 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM)

Web Without Limits (Built in support for HTML-5, Abobe Flash 10.1 enabled)

High-speed Connections (Wifi connectability, Bluetooth capable)

Amplified BlackBerry Experience (Connects to the BlackBerry smartphone to access email, calendar, BBM and more wirelessly)